Nikon unveils first Mirrorless Cameras

Nikon has unveiled its first mirrorless cameras, beating its arch rival Canon to the nascent market for small, interchangeable-lens cameras, where other manufacturers have met with mixed success.

Priced at around 70,000 yen ($915) and 105,000 yen, the long-rumored Nikon 1 J1 and Nikon 1 V1 will go on sale on October 20, the company said.

"A new market is developing among people who feel a compact camera is not quite good enough," said Yasuyuki Okamoto, head of the company's imaging division, adding that he saw the camera's small size as one of its main appeals.

Nikon and Canon dominate the market for the hefty single-lens reflex cameras used by professional photographers and enthusiasts, and mirrorless cameras pack many of the benefits of those high-end models into smaller bodies.

They have large sensors, giving good picture quality, but no optical viewfinders, enabling manufacturers to keep the camera body smaller and lighter by leaving the mirror out of the structure.

The new format is popular in Japan, where consumers tend to value easily portable products, but has so far sold less well in North America and Europe.

Mirrorless cameras accounted for 31 percent of all interchangeable lens models sold in Japan in 2010, but only 10 percent in the United States, according to research firm IDC.

Global mirrorless shipments reached 2.1 million units in 2010, but IDC is revising its forecasts for 2011, which it says will depend on new entrants and economic conditions.

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